One of the apartments in Gyumri's Mush district is more like a house-museum. Nearly from all the walls of the living room is "smiling" Meruzhan, a senior lieutenant killed in an unequal battle against an armed enemy during the days of the April war. He dreamed of making the house into a home. He wanted to rebuild the parents' apartment, received after the earthquake, without any excessive luxury, with modest solutions, and to get married. Meruzhan's parents, who never speak about Meruzhan in the past tense, fulfilled their son's dream.

 

“We had guests from many places… It was not pleasant to enter the hero's apartment and see poor conditions. It made us to renovate our apartment. It was the dream of my son to live in a decent home. He would have been the owner of the house; he wanted everything to be good. He told that even to his fiancée. Alas, only we were able to make his dream come true”, said Meruzhan’s father, Arthur.

 

After the earthquake, the Stepanyans lived in a metal container for three years, then moved to the newly-purchased apartment. The family that went through many difficulties has not been able to repair it for a long time. Only after more than three decades, the problem has been solved. Meruzhan's parents, Arthur and Nune, have tried to do as their son would like.

 

The Stepanyans' grandchildren are already growing up in the renovated house; the youngest of them was born a month after Meruzhan's death. The sister named her child after her dead brother. His presence started to change the family's life.

 

“Much has changed since the birth of small Meruzh. The name Meruzh was again heard in the house. Before my grandson was born, when we still didn't know the name of the baby was going to be Meruzhan, I saw a dream. Meruzhan came and said, “Mom, don't worry, I'll come back. I will definitely come…” Little Meruzh gave us so much strength that we were able to put up a Christmas tree this year. For 3 years, we have lived through his memories of the New Year. He was the one who decorated the Christmas tree. This year we left the Christmas tree to our grandchildren, Meruzhan and Samvel to decorate. They decorated very well, then they took it down. This year, the new apartment seems to have changed a bit... the kids have changed our lives a lot; we are making progress,” said the mother of the hero, Nune.

 

Viva-MTS and the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia supported the realization of the dream of the hero from Gyumri.

 

“Such programs are very important because there are many needy people who are not physically or financially able to make their dreams come true,” said Arthur.

 

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